iPhone People, Set Recurring Alarms to Avoid Missing Work Tomorrow

Just as Australia forgave Apple getting up an hour early because of the daylight saving time bug in iOS 4, the Californian company started 2011 with a new glitch.

Like a similar glitch in November, this new issue has already – believe it or not – caused an unknown portion of iPhone users to miss work on Saturday and Sunday.

The issue apparently pertains to a software bug in iOS causing non-repeating alarms to fail to ring entirely beginning with 2011.

Apple spokesperson Natalie Harrison has officially acknowledged the glitch, telling Macworld that the issue affects those iPhone users who run the latest iOS version 4.2.1 and use non-repeating alarms.

Harrison also said the glitch would resolve itself on Monday, January 3, 2011 and offered the following workaround:

We’re aware of an issue related to non repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2. Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3.

We first learned about the alarm clock-related problems in iOS 4 in November, when Apple issued a support document detailing issues with recurring alarms. A few years ago, it would have been a non-issue.

However, as smartphones become a part of our daily routine and replace old-fashioned gadgets like alarm clocks, relatively insignificant software issues may cause millions to show up late for work.